


To my Dearest Love

by RiseiTekiSensei



Series: It's A Long Story [11]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alphyne, F/F, F/M, Fluff, I am fandom trash, I'm sorry this is a day late, Slow Burn, Soriel, a marshmellow full of condensed rage and seething hatred, all of the fluff, frisk and friends continue to meddle in other peoples lives, letter writing is canon and i love it, sorielweek, sorielweek2016
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-29
Updated: 2016-08-29
Packaged: 2018-08-11 18:39:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7903438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RiseiTekiSensei/pseuds/RiseiTekiSensei
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Toriel needs to get groceries. Frisk invites they're Aunts and Uncles over. Shenanigans occur. Mischief is managed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	To my Dearest Love

**Author's Note:**

> For Day 7 of #SorielWeek2016 on tumblr. The prompt was Free Day. You can find more information and other submissions at sorielweek.tumblr.com. 
> 
> P.S. I'm sorry this is a day late, but time got away from me. I finished this at like 4am but I wanted to edit it before I posted it.

Their breath came out in loud huffs. They covered their mouth with their hands as they tried to muffle sound they were making.

Frisk just had to hide. They just had to stay quiet. He wouldn’t find them if they just stayed quiet.

Frisk settled farther back into the small space.

“Eep!”, Alphys half whispered, “Frisk m-my tail.”

Frisk shifted off Alphys as fast as they could, “Sorry! Are you okay?”, they whispered back quietly.

Two arms shot out of the darkened space and pulled Frisk off their feet. Undyne plunked the small human down in her lap to help save space. Toriel might have had a walk-in closet, but that didn’t mean it fit three adult monsters and a child very comfortably.

Mettaton yawned and continued scrolling through his phone, he hadn’t actually decided to hide with them. Just in the mad dash for escape he got swept up with them, luckily his box form didn’t take up too much space.

With the dim led-screen’s light, Frisk could see Alphys rub her tail a little, they must have stepped on it. “I-i’m okay…”

No one spoke. Heavy breathing filled the darkened space. Mettaton typed something. Undyne got tired of waiting.

“Okay, so-”, Undyne began only for the two smaller occupants to shush her emphatically. “Gosh nerds. Alright, I’ll whisper.”, she continued in hushed tones. “But, you guys’ve better start explaining why we’re hiding…”

“U-undyne… didn’t you see his face, he was furious…”, Alphys mumbled.

Frisk nodded in whole-hearted agreement. They couldn’t see Undyne’s face, but they figured she was raising an eyebrow. She didn’t say anything, Alphys fidgeted under her gaze.

“I hope Papyrus is okay…”, Frisk wondered softly. They knew without a doubt that he was perfectly okay, but this whole thing was a bunch of fun. But only they and Alphys seemed to get how the rules supposed to work.

“Oh for chr-ipe’s sake!”, Undyne whisper-roared. “He’s **fine** . I mean seriously this is **Sans** we’re talking about. Mr. My-brother-literally-means-the-world-to-me or as I like to call him Mr. I-bent-down-once-to-get-something-and-fell-asleep, which is why I don’t get why we’re hiding… from Sans!?”, she continued in hushed tones as best she could.

“Babe… b-because it’s **Sans** ”, Alphys whispered back, her eyes were smiling. Frisk nodded sagely. Alphys made eye contact with them. They both erupted into breathless snickers.

Undyne huffed, she still didn’t quite understand what was happening. “Look I get that he can do that creepy smile and no eye-lights thing, but-”

“Hmm, don’t forget that strange way he can be anywhere he wants whenever he wants as long as you don’t see where he came from thing… I kind of admire his flare for grand entrances…”, Mettaton’s voice crackled electronically. He had turned his speaker volume down to imitate their whispered voices.

“Yeah,” the fish warrior agreed, before continuing, “but like seriously why are we hiding? He’s about as threatening as marshmellow.”

“A-a marshmellow full of condensed rage and seething hatred…”, Alphys muttered. At the looks everyone gave her, she continued, “O-once b-back in college, I switched his ketchup w-with hot sauce… let’s j-just say it started a p-prank war…”

“I didn’t know that, babe.”, Undyne said curiously.

Alphys shrugged a little. “Y-yeah… me n’ Sans kinda g-go way back.”, she replied. Her claws clicked nervously.

“Nah, not that. I figured you nerds knew each other pretty well,” Undyne commented with a throwaway gesture. “I mean that you pranked people, babe. That’s super cute~”

The yellow lizard-monster flushed. The pinkish purple of her magic sparked dimly across the scales of her face. “Ehehehe… um… sort of… but like- I kinda gave up l-like a year into our w-war thingy… but it lasted for like a-another three after that… so…”

“Wait so he, pranked you for like four years over one thing?”, Undyne questioned. Frisk could feel her glower.

“N-no… w-well sort of…” Alphys said to the plush carpeting. “But… that had been when h-he was twenty. I t-think he’s probably m-mellowed some, now that he’s like- thirty or something… I hope…” She hadn’t seemed to understand the Undyne was mad at Sans and not her.

“Alphys- That’s not what I meant. He- he shouldn’t have held a grudge for that long over somethin’ so stupid… I gonna go punch that stupid skeleton in the face!” Undyne decided and made to get up, effectively dislodging Frisk.

Both they and Alphys flailed about in an attempt to get her to stop. “N-no U-undyne, stop. H-he never d-did anything m-malicious… it w-was all really s-silly stuff. L-like changing m-my phone’s background... o-or removing the track ball from my mouse s-so it wouldn’t work… dumb h-harmless stuff.”

Undyne didn’t push past them, “You sure, babe?” She didn’t seem entirely convinced.

“Y-yes... Ehehehe, o-once on my birthday he f-filled my dorm with balloons… like floor t-to ceiling and when they popped c-confetti shot out… then w-we stayed up all night watching anime and when I woke u-up the next day, all the confetti’ed b-been cleaned up. W-we were friends.” Alphys confirmed as she pulled Undyne back to the floor.

Once they had settled, Frisk climbed back into Undyne’s lap. The fish-monster wrapped her arms around them reflexively. “I think you two dorks still are friends, Alphie.”

The doctor played with her tail a little. “Y-yeah… you’re probably right… I-i just don’t think i-it’s the same as it use to be, though… w-we might get back there one d-day…”

“Heck yes!”, Undyne cheered. She was shushed again. “That’s the spirit babe! Don’t give up on anything!” Undyne continued at a lower volume. She might not get why Alphys liked Sans, but she would support her girlfriend’s attempt live her life to the fullest. For some reason the people she cared about kept liking the weird ass skeleton, so she might as well get use to him.

They all fell back into silence, just with less heavy breathing. Mettaton typed something. Undyne got tired of waiting, again.

“Okay, but no seriously why are we hiding? I mean if the little pri-creep’s just gonna prank us then why are we here?”, Undyne asked.

Frisk smiled and pulled the reason why they bolted out of their overalls’ pocket. The poorly folded paper looked crumpled but it was still intact and in their possession.

All eyes locked onto the paper.

“Frisk! You sly dog! We are **sooo** gonna hide that for Toriel!”, Undyne exclaimed in mischievous glee.

No one bothered to shush her.

 

* * *

 

[Three Hours Earlier]

 

Toriel checked her purse one more time. She had her keys, her wallet, her grocery list and pen, her reusable bags, anndd- her cell phone. _I believe that is everything… hmmm… oh sun glasses!_

Toriel bent her head down to check her bag for the glasses, only for them to slide down off her head and onto her snout. “Ah, perfect.”, Toriel said to herself and plucked her keys from her bag.

“Alright my child, I am heading to the grocery store… I shan't be more than a few hours. Hmm, are you sure you will be alright by yourself?”, Toriel questioned the small child lying on the sofa.

They seemed to be practically vibrating with excitement. “Yep, Mom! Hurry and go!”, they exclaimed. At her curious glance they continued, a little franticly, “So, um- you know, you don’t have to deal with traffic and stuff!”

Toriel pursed her lips, but sighed and didn’t press the issue. Likely Frisk was just excited to be home by themself, without a worried mother breathing down their neck. “As you wish, Frisk. Please remember to do your homework.” Toriel replied, her paw on the door. “Oh and do not forget I have my phone on me, if you need anything just call. And if I do not pick up then call your Uncle-”

Frisk bounced off the couch and came to hurry her on her way. “Yes, Mom. I’ll call you if anything goes wrong or if I need help. I promise~”

Toriel laughed at her child’s antics. “Oh, very well!”

She opened the door and stopped dead in her tracks.

Papyrus pulled his hand away from the door that was no longer in knocking distance. Behind him stood a nervous Dr. Alphys, an exasperated Undyne and an uninterested Mettaton.

“NYEH HEH HEH…”, Papyrus muttered nervously. “LADY TORIEL, YOU ARE HOME…”

She could her Frisk bury their face in their hand. Undyne seemed to copy the gesture on cue.

“On the contrary, Papyrus~”, Toriel said with a smile and stepped onto the porch, “I am on my way **out** .” The others were forced to take a step back. “Perhaps it is all of you, who are on their way **in** .” She stepped a side, to let them pass. “As to why, I do not know… would you to fill me **in**?”

Papyrus didn’t move forward right a way. “UM… FIRSK HAS REQUESTED OUR HELP WITH…”

“Homework!”, Frisk shouted in conclusion. Papyrus seemed to be infinity more relieved.

“YES! IN A DIRE PLEA FOR HELP I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE COME TO LEND MY AID!”, he replied a little bit of magical orange sweat forming on his brow, as he bounded by her and into the safety of her home.

“We!”, Undyne cried and she scooped up Alphys to charge in after Papyrus. “That homework what know what hit it!”

“SPEARS?”, Toriel could hear Papyrus question.

“N-no”, Alphys stuttered, “H-hard work and b-brain power.”

“HECK YES!”, Undyne roared “And all that other glorious Nerd stuff!”

Frisk’s laughter echoed around the room. Toriel glanced back into her home and saw her child hanging off one of Undyne’s well-toned arms. They were grinning ear to ear and swinging their legs back and forth in a futile attempt to climb up on to Undyne while the fish-monster flexed.

Toriel’s soul fluttered in delight, she glanced back at Mettaton who was still standing outside. In his rectangular form it was hard to read his expression, but she could tell her was watching her.

“And where are you headed darling~”, Mettaton questioned, “Perhaps you are off to rendezvous with your secret lover~” He posed quite dramatically.

Toriel stuttered in shock, “G-goodness no! I am simply taking a trip to the grocery store, before dinner.” She wasn’t sure why the question made her feel uncomfortable, but it might have had something to do with the way she could tell Mettaton was watching her smugly. As if he knew she was lying. Which was completely ridiculous because she was actually going to the store.

“Of course darling~ How silly of me~”, Mettaton said as he rolled by. He did not sound as if he thought it was silly. He sounded like he hoped someone’s face popped into her mind.

 

Which did not happen.

Nope.

Not at all.

 

She closed the door on a sigh and locked it. She looked down at herself, sure she was wearing one of her nicer dresses, but that didn’t mean she was going to see someone. She just wanted to look nice today…

And, well, Sans had agreed to tour the school with her during her lunch break today. But, she merely wanted to look nice… Because of the contractor. _Amanda was always dressed impeccably and it seemed appropriate to show the young lady the same kind of respect she always showed me…_

Toriel huffed out a breath as she closed the driver side door. She checked her mirrors and was glad to find that she could not see her blush through her fur. Toriel pulled out of the driveway.

The school was coming along nicely, she had wished it would have been finished before the start of this semester, but it had been unrealistic. That did not mean that they were not using the school, it simple meant that they were teaching around a construction zone. All of the major building had been finished as well as the outdoor areas, it was just the actual classrooms that hadn’t been finished yet. However this sort of thing seemed to be a common occurrence on the Surface and they brought in quite a few ‘portable buildings’ for them to use until December.

They did not need very many of these extra buildings, for the Ebott Mountain Elementary School did not have a very large opening class. They were only the newly moved monster children and Frisk. The school was for both monsters and humans and Toriel hoped to have a more diverse class next school year, once things had settled more and the school was finished.

Toriel sighed again as she turned into the parking lot to the store. Running a new school was a great deal more effort than Toriel had imagined, especially while she was teaching. But once the school was finished a proper principle could be hired and Toriel could go back to teaching full time… And helping Frisk with their homework and ambassadorial duties…

She rested her head on her steering wheel as the car ticked quietly in its parking space. _Frisk has so much going on in their lives… is this really the best thing for them… making them the ambassador had been a snap decision and so far it seemed to be working despite the rarity of someone so young working in a governmental capacity… I just want them to be happy… to live as normal a life as they want…_

But they **were** happy. If they way they were giggling when she left was anything to go by. Speaking of left… Toriel was not sure what those five had planned but it left her Mom-senses tingling, as Sans liked to call it. She wasn’t worried… she was just mildly concerned about the kind of mischief they were going to get themselves into. She fished her phone out of her purse and checked for new messages.

She had none, so she opened the app and selected a name.

 

_*Sans my Dear-_

[Backspace]

 

_*Sans could you-_

[Backspace]

 

_*Sans would you please-_

[Backspace]

 

_*Sans when you have time would you please swing home-_

She couldn’t put home, it wasn’t his home.

[Backspace]

 

_*Sans when you have time would you please swing by my house-_

Well, now it sounded like he wasn’t involved in hers and Frisk’s lives…

[Backspace]

 

_*Sans when you have time would you please swing by the house and check on Frisk. I do not think that anything is wrong, but on my way out Alphys, Mettaton, Undyne, and your brother all arrived under the impression that I had already left. It is not that I do not trust them, but they last time they tried to do something with a surprise in mind pancakes were splattered across my ceiling… And we would not want our Anonymous cleaner to have more work cut out for him. ];)_

Oh no, she couldn’t put that. If she had wanted to confront him about the mother’s day fiasco then she should have done it months ago. _Maybe I could mention it next Mother’s day, offhandedly, like a kind of joke…_

[Backspace]

 

_*Sans when you have time would you please swing by the house and check on Frisk. I do not think that anything is wrong, but on my way out Alphys, Mettaton, Undyne, and your brother all arrived under the impression that I had already left. It is not that I do not trust them, but I just want to make sure that everything is alright. Thank you ];)_

[Send]

 

_Wait was that a winky face! Oh I had just meant it to be an normal smile emoticon… Should I send a correction… or would that make it more noticeable…_

 

Toriel huffed out her breath and put her phone away. She had already spent too much time trying to compose that text, she needed to get her shopping done. Everything would be fine.

 

* * *

 

Sans yawned. His jaw stretched wide and his mandible popped a little.

He didn’t really want to move. The couch had been a second hand thing, but he loved it and it seemed to love him as it pulled him farther down into it’s squish clutches. He fished his phone out of his pocket to check the time.

He had a little notification saying Toriel had texted him. He yawned again and pushed himself to his feet. Stuffing his metatarsals and phalanges into slippers, he shuffled around the table and moved into the kitchenette. His eye-lights were caught by the little key bowl near the door. It made him smile, just a bit. Just like every time he sees it. The little cartoon snails’ ceramic gloss glittered back.

Toriel had insisted that they keep the bowl, after all it would just be her who need to keep keys at the house. He was glad Toriel had found a place… he really was… It was just sometimes he missed not being able to come home to her- 

 

_The door swung open and Toriel came in with an armful of bags. She had an enormous grin on her face. “Sans! You would not believe what I found at the market. One of the Vegetoid farmers just made a new crop of tomatoes and I think I purchased enough to make ketchup from scratch. Would you care to help me?”_

 

The vision of the small house he had never lived in vanished. His hands clutched at the tile counters while his head throbbed. He took a couple deep breaths.

This kept happening. This thing where he would get flashes, scenes or memories or whatever, from previous timelines. At first he thought he had just been misremembering things, but it had been happening for months now and the headaches were kinda a big indicator that something was preternatural about these memories. And once he had the new memories was hard to tell when they were from, or from which timeline to be more precise. But as long as he was careful not to mention things that didn’t happen in this timeline he’d be golden… Or at least that was what he had thought. As he started to remember more and more it got harder and harder to keep the past straight. The headache seemed to be passing off quicker though, so that’s something.

Sans leaned against the counter and read Toriel’s text just to give him something else to do, while the headache passed.

 

_\--- * Sans when you have time would you please swing by the house and check on Frisk. I do not think that anything is wrong, but on my way out Alphys, Mettaton, Undyne, and your brother all arrived under the impression that I had already left. It is not that I do not trust them, but I just want to make sure that everything is alright. Thank you ];)_

 

_crap... she sent this like an hour ago…_

 

He hurriedly sent her a reply.

 

_* hey do you still want me to swing by your place_

 

He plopped his phone on the counter and stretched. Bones creaked and popped. His phone buzzed.

 

_\--- * Oh yes, please! The grocery store is far busier than anticipated._

 

_* sure thing t_

 

The headache was gone and he figured he could just pop over to her house, scare everybody, and take a nap. Easy.

Sans watched his linoleum overlay with hers. And all he had to do waasss-

Sans stepped into Toriel’s kitchen. He shuffled over to her fridge and pulled out a bottle of ketchup. She seemed to always keep a couple of the nicer glass bottles in the fridge just in case he ever **popped** in. He snickered as he took a sip.

“NGAAHHHH!”, Undyne screamed from the living room.

 

_welp, everything seem fine…_

 

Sans silently made his way into the short hall that connected the front door with the kitchen and the living room.

“Undyne… I know y-you don’t like them, b-but we have to…”, Alphys stammered.

“YES! DOCTOR ALPHYS IS QUITE RIGHT”, Papyrus chimed in, “WITHOUT THE PUNS IT WILL NOT APPEAR BELIEVABLE…. AS MUCH AS I DISLIKE THEM, THEY ARE VERY NECESSARY.”  

Now Sans hesitated. Whatever they were doing it was clearly for Tori and he was kinda curious. He leaned against the wall just out of sight from the living room and listened.

“Pul-eaz!”, Undyne bellowed half-heartedly, followed by a flapping noise. “Pap you came up with like three of these without help! You **sooo** love puns, you just don’t want Sans to know…”

Sans had to cover his mouth, not because it would muffle his laugh, but because it would remind him not start up in the first place. Oh, now he **really** wanted to know what they were up to.

Papyrus spluttered indignantly. Sans could just imagine his face, eye lights mimicking googly eyes, mouth hung open in outrage. Sans grinned harder. “WHY UNDYNE I AM OFFENDED! TO THINK YOU WOULD THINK THAT YOU BE- **LEAF** -ED I LIKED PUNS IS- IS- **APPLE** -ING!”

Undyne groaned. Frisk laughed outright and a high five sound emanated from the room. Sans sunk to the floor and grinned so hard his face hurt. His hand still covering his mouth and the other holding the bottle, he used his sleeve to wipe the tears of laughter from his eyes. His soul swelled with pride.

“Ooo, P-papyrus we can use that one!”, Alphys exclaimed with glee.

“How?”, Frisk asked curiously as they scrambled across the sofa.

“Y-you got to be- **leaf** you are the **apple** of my eye~”, Alphys answered with a laugh. Then it sounded like someone was writing.

“Oh darling, here put this one in”, Mettaton started and then pages were being turned. “I’ll always **tree** -t you right, even as the seasons change I’ll still be **fall** ing for you~”

Sans almost snorted, _god these are terrible._ It was like they were trying to come up the the worst pick-up puns ever.

“Nice~”, Frisk cheered, the sounds of more writing followed.

“Are you guys sure, we can’t just stuff ‘em into a closet and leave? I mean it really wouldn’t take long for them to be all over each other…”, Undyne grumbled.

There was a great uproar following this. Sans could only catch parts.

“... c-can’t say stuff like t-that-”

“-o drama in it, darling~”

“-ABSOLUTELY WOULD NOT WORK-”

“- I know what smooching is you don’t-”

 

Eventually they all settled down again. But something seemed… off. _what’re they doing in there…_ Sans considered moving closer, but stopped when they started talking again.

“So, has anyone come up with an idea for how we are to give this fabulous letter to our resident Goat-Mamma?”, Mettaton inquired.

 

_… a letter… for tori?_

 

“Heh, we could give it to Frisk to give it to her.”, Undyne offered with a laugh. “At least she’ll know it won’t actually be from the kid.”

“Y-yes”, Alphys said indignantly, “That’s because we’re going to **actually** sign it. Instead of assuming she’ll j-just know who i-it’s from…”

There was some shuffling and a laugh. “Sorry, babe~”, Undyne said, “I just couldn’t help it… I mean it did work out really well for us.”

“I-I know that’s w-why I thought t-the letter thing might be a-a good idea…”, Alphys said happily.

 

_so what… are they like, trying to hook tori up with someone… oh god they aren’t tryin’ to help poor fluffybuns are they… ‘cause that bridge has been burned… and then was like dipped in acid… and then run over a couple of times with a semi…_

 

“So,” Frisk asked distractedly, “are we gonna sign his whole name, or just put Sans?”

Sans’ brain seemed to have malfunctioned, because **clearly** he must have misheard Frisk just now. Because there wasn’t a snowball's chance in **Hell** , that they were making a fake love letter from him for Tori.

“Hmmm~ That’s a good question, my darling Frisk~ Personally, I think his full name would add that perfect flare~” Mettaton answered.

“I-I don’t know…”, Alphys mumbled, “I t-think just putting S-Sans should be fine.”

Sans soul felt like it was freezing solid, while trying to vibrate it’s way out of his ribcage. His phalanges tightened around the ketchup bottle. _this can’t be happening._

“Yeah, but wouldn’t putting his whole name sort of be the selling point.” Undyne voted. “I mean it’d give it that bit of truth to it, ta’ make her wonder if Sans actually helped with this ‘er something…”

Papyrus hmmed thoughtfully. This was it. Sans’ moment of truth. Papyrus could either confirm all of this craziness or slap it down. “I BELIEVE WE SHOULD PUT NEITHER.”

 

_well, what the hell is that supposed to mean…_

 

Which seemed to be everyone else's response too. After everyone finished making inquiries and demands for an explanation Papyrus continued, “WOULD IT NOT HAVE MORE MEANING FOR IT TO SAY SOMETHING LIKE, ‘FROM THE OTHER SIDE OF THE DOOR’ OR EVEN MORE SIMPLY ‘KNOCK KNOCK’?”

This received around of ‘ooo’s and ‘ahhh’s and giggling squealing sounds.

Sans could feel his magic flush across his face. Their voice started to drift into the background of Sans’ attention. His soul pounded. Magic flooded his eye in an effort to do something in his agitated state.

He felt embarrassed because apparently everyone knew about his feelings for Tori, the ones he still didn’t want to admit to himself existed.

He felt betrayed because even his brother was trying to push him into something that wasn’t ready to do yet.

He felt terrified because if Toriel actually got this letter it might ruin everything between them. She might not be interested in moving their relationship past this point and the letter would make everything awkward between them, even if she knew it was fake.

 

But mostly…

 

He felt pissed. Because not once had he **ever** tried to actively manipulate one of their lives before, not even **once.** Despite all of the times he’d lived through the same thing over and over, he never tried to change the way they lived their lives. He’d tried to give them advice, but he’d never forced them to do anything they didn’t want to.

The bones curled around the bottle glowed pale blue. He could see blue and yellow light dance in the darkened hallway. The bottle cracked.

Sans dismissed it into his inventory. He took a deep breath. It misted on its way back out. He wanted to take those two steps down the hall and-

  
_in._

 

_out._

 

No, he could do that. He was mad, but he didn’t want to trap them like that. He knew he was probably gonna scare ‘em half to dust already, but he didn’t wanna give Frisk another reason to have nightmares…

  
_in._

 

_out._

 

He could feel his magic fizzle down again. Angry, yes. Lethal, no.

  
_in._

 

_out._

 

He pulled the layout of the living room into his mind. The couch’s back was facing towards the dining room so if he appeared there then they could escape through the archway leading to the hall and foyer. He took one more deep breath. He let his eye-lights fizzle out.

The image of the couch appeared in his mind's eye and he stepped towards it as if he were just going to lean against the back-

It was like time moved in slow motion. He appeared. All eyes shifted towards him. Alphys and Frisk didn’t even hesitate, they both started to thier feet. Neither had a doubt in their minds that he wasn’t entering the room caught unawares. _kudos to them._

Undyne looked half ready to hurl a spear and Mettaton was trying to keep himself from falling off Toriel’s armchair. And Papyrus got one look at his face and seemed to freeze. Sans recognized that face. It was like the time Papyrus had tried to sneak more than one cookie after dinner. It was the ‘I have been caught’ face. _wondering how much trouble you’re in… welp, the answer’s a lot._

“ **h e y a.** ”, Sans made his voice echo.

Alphys bolted for the door. Frisk had to run across the room, vault over the coffee table, and climb over the loveseat, but they still made it out of the room first. Undyne had lept to her feet and looked like she was trying to bite back a swear. _good. i hope this bothers you for weeks…_ Mettaton caught himself mid-wobble and recovered gracefully, with only a small electronic feedback squeal of surprise.   _and i hope you keep today in mind next time you make eyes at my brother…_

Papyrus seemed to have been galvanized into motion. He lept to his feet and looked like he was trying to figure out if running would be an effective way to help his friends or not. Sans made eye contact with him. Papyrus stopped considering. He turned the Undyne and Mettaton and exclaimed, “I AM A DISTRACTION, YOU SHOULD FLEE!”

That almost made Sans snort. But it looks like years of training and friendship lead Undyne to take Papyrus’ warning seriously. In a pretty spectacular maneuver she scooped the robot off the chair, and booked it. Papyrus turned back to him.

The sounds of feet bounding up the stairs echoed in the silence.

Sans didn’t re-activate his eye-lights.

Papyrus fidgeted.

Sans didn’t so much as breath.

Orange beads of sweat formed across Papyrus’ brow. He was looking anywhere in room except at Sans.

Sans waited. He could always out wait Papyrus, one of the perks of being the older sibling.

 

.

.

.

 

“SO I TAKE IT THAT YOU HAVE HEARD SOME OF OUR CONVERSATION… IT IS IMPOLITE TO EASY DROP…”, Papyrus said to the ceiling.

Sans stayed silent. His hollow gaze bore into Papyrus. _same old pap, first things first try to make it seem like he’s not the only one at fault._

Papyrus fidgeted again. If Papyrus had been wearing an oversized shirt he’d have started clutching at the bottom of it, just like he had when he’d been a baby bones.

“I AM IN TROUBLE.” Papyrus stated to the floor.

“ **What gave it away?** ”, Sans whispered, his words dripping in sarcasm and anger.

Papyrus flinched a little.

Sans let out another deep breath. His eye-lights re-ignited.

Papyrus looked a little relieved.

Sans pushed himself away from the sofa and scrubbed at his face. He didn’t even know where to begin…

“... YOU KNOW WE JUST WANT YOU AND TORIEL TO BE HAPPY…”, Papyrus explained softly.

Sans bit out a bark of laughter. “and you guys think that we don’t know how to do that ourselves!” Sans almost shouted. His face turned towards the ceiling hoping the quartet upstairs heard him.

Papyrus frowned at him. Sans glowered back as he stuffed his hands into his pockets. “BUT YOU WERE NOT TAKING STEPS TOWARD-”, Papyrus started.

Sans felt like he wanted to scream. He waved a hand to cut Papyrus off. “to **you** . it didn’t look like anything’s happening to **you** … this is my life and this is tori’s life… and we get to make these choices if or when we’re ready to. god, even if that takes us decades decided if this is even anything…”

Papyrus seemed to shrink back from Sans’ words. “BUT YOU L-”

“pap!”, Sans almost screeched. Papyrus blinked at him, Sans flushed.

Neither brother moved. But Papyrus didn’t look quite so reprimanded anymore. After another beat Sans continued back at his normal octave, “... ‘sides wouldn’t this letter deal be like starting- um, everything off on a lie…”

Now, Papyrus seemed apprehensive as if this hadn’t occurred to him yet. “HMM, I HAD NOT THOUGHT ABOUT IT IN THAT LIGHT… I BELIEVE YOU ARE RIGHT, SANS!” He exclaimed, before continuing, “I _am_ sorry, Sans… really… we just… we wanted to help.”

Sans felt his soul melt around the edges. He really must have spoiled Papyrus rotten, because he could just never stay mad at him. “i know, bro. i really do… and if we ever ask… then you guys will be the first we’ll turn to, okay?”, Sans responded tenderly.

They both share a wordless moment, before turning back to the task at hand. “okay, now i’m gonna shred that stupid thing and remind all of our so called friends not to be so nosy anymore.” Sans growled.

They searched for the letter, but both came up empty. “I DO NOT UNDERSTAND. I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AM CERTAIN WE LEFT IT ON THE COFFEE TABLE.”

Sans’ eye sockets narrowed. _on the coffee table…_ “frisk. oh that kid’s gonna be toast”, Sans snarled and took off for the stairs.

 

* * *

 

She hoisted her groceries out of the trunk. Her phone chirped. Toriel considered putting the bags down to check it, but figured the message could wait, while she go the groceries in the house.

 _I wonder if I should make a casserole or if it is too late in the day for that… maybe a salad would be easier. I shall ask Frisk when I get in._ Toriel fumbled with the keys and the bags for a minute. Taking more than one trip would have been easier, but this had been faster. The lock clicked open. Her phone buzzed twice more right in succession. _I believe that makes three and I have not even made it inside yet._

Toriel pushed the front door open gingerly and ducked inside. She juggled with her grocery bags and closed the door behind her. “Frisk, dear? Would you come give me a hand?”, Toriel called out, then added as an afterthought, “And what would you like for dinner a salad or a casserole?”

Toriel was met with silence. She moved farther into the hall and called again. Still no answer. No sound of pattering footsteps or muffled laughter. She peeked into the living room and only to find it empty. Her phone buzzed once, pulling at her attention once more. She started to move towards the kitchen to deposit her bags and check who need her attention this badly when something caught her eye.

The living room furniture appeared to be covered in papers. Toriel peered at one of the pages closest to her, it was a sheet of Frisk’s completed homework. _Well at least they finished it… but it looks like it took a tornado to do so..._ “Frisk?”, Toriel called again.

When she still didn’t get answer she crept further into the living room. Aside from the papers nothing seemed to be wrong- except the painting next to her had been re-hung… upside down. And the coffee table seemed to have been relocated a few inches to the left. She could see the carpet indentation from where it had been. Once more her phone chirped at her. _It seem that I am quite popular all of a sudden_ . Her grocery bags shifted a bit. They were starting to dig into her fingers. But other than those few changes nothing else- _why is that lap underneath the end table…_

The simple absurdity of the sight made her forgo the rest of her investigation and she headed straight for the kitchen to put her bags down. She need free hands to figure out what had happened.

But again Toriel stopped short at the sight in front of her. Every drawer and cabinet had been left open. Each at varying degrees of openness, or closedness depending on her perspective. It reminded her of one of those paranormal human films Frisk had shown her, where the poltergeist had blown through the kitchen leaving a mess in its wake. _Or monster who had lost control of their telekinetic magic… I wonder if this will become a regular thing… My coming home to find that something mysterious has occurred in my kitchen of all places…_

She set her bags down on the counter. Her phone chirped.

As she pulled the device out of her purse it buzzed in her paw. She swiped open the phone only to discover that she had six new text messages, three of which were from Frisk.

 

They read:

_\--- * I finished my hw, so i went over to MK’s house to help them with theirs_

_\--- * Mom, don’t worry_

_\--- * I should be home before dinner_

 

 _I believe those may have been sent out of order._ She sent her child a text back.

 

_* Alright, my child. I wish you had asked for permission first, but I am glad to know where you are._

_* What would you like for dinner taco casserole or taco salad?_

 

She had one from Undyne:

_\--- * Frisk’s done with their homework so Alphys and I took off_

 

One from Papyrus:

_\--- * DO NOT WORRY LADY TORIEL! FRISK HAS COMPLETED ALL OF THEIR VERY IMPORTANT HOMEWORK._

 

Toriel pursed her lips. These messages were very odd. All seemed to be trying to placate her fears, as if she should have something to be upset about.

And the last one was from Sans:

_\--- * everythings fine_

 

Toriel snorted and replied. _At least Sans is blunt about what is happening..._

 

_* Oh I can see that~ ]:)_

_* But I suppose that means thing were not fine, before._

 

She slipped her phone in her pocket and started putting away groceries and closing cabinets. Her phone buzzed.

 

_\--- * what gave it away_

 

  _* Well, all of the cabinets and drawers were left open in the kitchen…_

 

  _\--- * heh yeah sorry about that_

 

  _* And there is a lamp underneath the end table in the living room, which happens to be covered in Frisk’s homework assignments at the moment._

 

_\--- * oh_

_\--- * wait is the lamp really under the table_

 

Toriel strolled into the living room and sent Sans picture message.

 

_\--- * crap_

 

  _*Care to tell me what actually happened?_

 

He didn’t respond right away so she went back to the groceries. As she worked she noticed her diary was left out on the counter. _This should be in my room…_ She moved to collect the book when her phone chirped.

 

_\--- * uh it was the usual frisk style meddling… just with more people involved in the scheming_

 

She pursed her lips at that response. It sounded like the truth, but it also sounded too vague to the be whole truth. She picked up her diary while she thought of the best way to responded. Something fluttered out.

It was a slightly crumpled and severally creased piece of paper. It had the words “To My Dearest Love” written across it in large flowing letters. Toriel opened the letter.

She read it once, then a second time, then a third.

Before she could get to the fourth she staggered over a chair in the dining room, wheezing. She just couldn’t get her breath back. Water filled her eyes as she laughed herself breathless.

Several people had clearly written it, the handwritings were so distinct that it was easy to tell who’s was who’s. The puns had been fabulously bad, but most felt to forced to really work well together. And the wording was just so flowery and appalling that it was impossible for her to believe that it had ever come from Sans. Despite his name being written along the bottom… in what appeared to be Frisk’s handwriting.

The letter was hilarious, but what had really brought her to tears was the imagery of Sans stopping by only to find that his friends had been conspiring against him. She figured he’d have been the most astonishing combination of furious and mortified leaving him bright blue in the face. _I do not think that I could have ever planned a better practical joke~_ She tittered hopelessly to herself for several more seconds before he phone buzzed.

It was from Sans.

 

_\--- * you’re not angry are you_

 

  _* With you? Never~ ]:D_

 

**Author's Note:**

> If you guys want me to write the letter just let me know. I wasn't sure if the story really needed it or not.


End file.
